Tag: Founding Fathers

Samuel Adams–An American Original

College of Political Knowledge

Subject: Early American History

This is the week that we stop and celebrate the signing of the Declaration of Independence and as usual I post some American history that I feel has been overshadowed by the doings of the DoI issue….we spend all our energy patting people like Jefferson on the back (my readers know that I am not enamored with Jefferson at all)…….I feel we spend too much time on the action and not enough on what lead up to the situation that the Founders felt that they needed to declare our independence from mother England………

We all know the story of Concord and Bunker Hill and Valley Forge…..we are, for the most part, acquainted with the Stamp Act, the Taxes on tea and eventually Bunker Hill….first let me say, the action was not fought on Bunker Hill but rather the smaller hill next to it, Breed’s Hill, I believe…..one of the many revisionists views of what happened…….

Our Founding Fathers were rebel, in the loosest sense of the word and not radicals…..most were hoping for an eventual reconciliation with England…..in the beginning many were not even thinking about independence……so where did the idea of an independent America come from, is a question that is seldom asked.

It was Samuel Adams who took the first step toward its construction, though the idea had been first suggested in 1705 by the great preacher Jonathan Mayhew. In order to provoke the colonies to assemble in a continental congress, it was only necessary that the British government should take the aggressive upon some issue in which all the colonies were equally interested. The sending of the tea-ships in 1773 was such an act of aggression, and forced the issue upon the colonists. The management of this delicate and difficult affair, down to the day when Massachusetts virtually declared war by throwing the tea into the harbor, was entirely in the hands of the committees of correspondence of Boston and five neighboring towns, with the expressed consent of the other Massachusetts committees and the general approval of the country. In this bold act of defiance Samuel Adams was from first to last the leading spirit.

He had been the first of American statesmen to come to the conclusion that independence was the only remedy for the troubles of the time; and since 1768 he had acted upon this conviction without publicly avowing it. The “Boston tea party” made war inevitable. In April, 1774, parliament retorted with the acts for closing the port of Boston and annulling the charter of Massachusetts. This alarmed all the colonies, and led to the first meeting of the continental congress. In this matter the other colonies invited Massachusetts to take the lead, and the work was managed by Mr. Adams with his accustomed shrewdness and daring. When the legislature met at Salem, 17 June, 1774, in conformity to the new acts of parliament, he locked the door, put the key into his pocket, and carried through the measures for assembling a congress at Philadelphia in September. A Tory member, feigning sudden illness, was allowed to go out, and ran straight to the governor with the news. The governor lost no time in drawing up the writ dissolving the legislature, but when his clerk reached the hall he found the door locked and could not serve the writ. When the business was accomplished the legislature adjourned sine die. It was the last Massachusetts legislature assembled in obedience to the sovereign authority of Great Britain. The acts of April were henceforth entirely disregarded in Massachusetts.
Adams served Continental Congress until his return to Boston in 1781. He initially opposed the new Constitution of the United States, but finally supported its ratification in Massachusetts. Adams served as Governor of Massachusetts from 1793 to 1797.

In my mind Samuel Adams holds a special place as a radical who always wanted a separate and independent America……he along with Thomas Paine made the independence we so cherish more than just a pipe dream….they made it a possibility.

Were The Founders Truly That Christian!?!

What prompted me to write this post was a recent story I saw on FOX News (I believe) about the Alabama judge with the 10 Commandments in the courthouse and that he was running for a judgeship again…..and of course all those who keep harping on religion during the election….and some fundamentalist that had to have a say on Mormonism……..

Also the Speaker of the House gave permission for a bunch of religious types to use the Hall at the Capital for a meeting and of course there was the usual suspects mouthing the usual insults and condemnations….but one Rev. got my attention when he said “separation of church and state is communist” (I am paraphrasing)……by using his logic Jefferson, who was a huge proponent of that separation,  was a communist.

We hear all the clap trap from the religious right that has me a bit confused….all the candidates that want you to believe that our Founders wanted this country to be a Christian nation….ONLY!

I think they all believed in God but that was where the religious inferences stopped….contrary to popular belief…..one  can believe in God without being a Christian…..keep in mind that……..check your copy of the Declaration of independence and the US Constitution…….(pause here for reflection)……The word Christ is not mentioned once…..

Thomas Jefferson spent considerable time investigating the Bible and the life of Jesus. He subsequently wrote, The Life and Morals of Jesus of Nazareth, detailing his findings — findings that differ in major ways with typical Christian beliefs.

I found a couple of quotes from our Founders that would have one believe that it might not be too true…..the site is cybercollege.com……..

Want to hear what these people really said?

George Washington – “The father of our country”

The United States is in no sense founded upon the Christian doctrine.

Thomas Jefferson* –

I do not find in orthodox Christianity
one redeeming feature. The day will come when the mystical generation of Jesus, by the Supreme Being as his Father, in the womb of a virgin will be classified with the fable of the generation of Minerva in the brain of Jupiter.

Abraham Lincoln –

The Bible is not my book, and Christianity is not my religion. I could never give assent to the long, complicated statements of Christian dogma.

John Adams –

The divinity of Jesus is made a convenient cover for absurdity. Nowhere in the Gospels do we find a precept for Creeds, Confessions, Oaths, Doctrines, and… foolish trumpery that we find in Christianity.

>>>James Madison (considered the author of the U.S. Constitution)-

During almost fifteen centuries has the legal establishment of Christianity been on trial. What has been its fruits? More or less, in all places, pride and indolence in the Clergy, ignorance and severity in the laity; in both superstition, bigotry, and persecution.

Belief in God does not necessarily make one a Christian!

Please…I am NOT saying that these men were not religious….only that they all seem to hold the same belief….and that belief was the separation between church and state.

Let me reiterate something……..Fundamentalists are not friends of democracy. And that includes our fundamentalists in the United States.

Who Was The Real Patriot?

College of Political Knowledge

Subject:  American History

Today is the 4th of July or what we like to call Independence Day (the holiday, not the movie)….actually Constitution Day, 17 September, should be celebrated more…why?  the DoI was basically a list of grievances against the King and what could happen if not addressed……the Constitution is far more important because it set up a system of government that has been copied the world over……but that is another post for another day……….

Okay my gripe has been addressed……onward……

In these days of rabid patriotism (see my page on patriotism)…….one group or another is beating their chest like oversexed, crazed primates….and of these groups we hear names of our Founders, like Jefferson or Adams or Hamilton or……well the list goes on and on……we are told just how patriotic they were in their defense of the Declaration of Independence and the war of said subject……but what made them these shining beacons of patriotism?  I can tell you that some catchy little slogan is NOT patriotism!

Was it their work to found a new independent country…..or maybe it was their rhetoric or how about their contributions, monetarily that is, to the war effort….Just what makes them so patriotic?

Men like Jefferson and Madison and Adams and on and on….were excellent wordsmiths, which by the way were NOT that interested in independence as much as reconciliation…..they wrote about all the things they thought were important….another BTW…..all their writings were NOT that original but rather continuations of other political philosophers of the past like Locke……but beyond all that….what made these men patriotic…….was it their words?  Or maybe it was their deeds……but keep in mind these were, for the most part, wealthy land owners and businessmen….so what made them these shining beacons of patriotism?

Like today, rabid patriotism is in the mind of the beholder…..but true patriotism is doing what is best for the country with all your resources…..so, I ask again….what makes these people patriotic?  Did these men offer up their wealth?  Maybe if the insurrection had failed they might have been paupers in the end…..but did they offer up their wealth in support of the country and the cause?  To my knowledge, as limited as it may be, the answer is NO………they wrote opinions and the met and the argued, but none threw their cash at the cause……NONE, with the exception of one…..Thomas Paine.

I will bet that all read this are just a bit miffed at my accusation……I shall explain why I say this…..

Common Sense which is known as the start of the demand for independence, was written by Thomas Paine after his arrival in the Colonies from England…the publishing house of Robert Bell…..the agreement was that they would split the profits…Paine did not want to profit from his work and instructed the publishers to donate the money to the used to buy mittens for the troops…….and he was not finished…..in 1779, when working for the Pennsylvania Assembly, he gave $500 to the relief of the hard pressed troops…..his example helped raise three hundred thousand pounds from private donations…..the welfare of the troops and the success of the cause were everything to Paine…..BY the way, Paine was NOT a wealthy person by any stretch of the imagination….so his patriotism came from the heart.

Now think back through your historical learning….any other Founders so inclined?

To my way of thinking…Paine is the best example of what a patriot is all about….and this is the man that has been all but ignored as a Founder….he deserves much more from a country that he helped to create and supported…….

A true patriot is not someone with flashy words and flying a flag or a wealth of magnets on one’s car….a true patriot is someone who does all he/she can in support of their country….even it the country ignores you…..with that I close with a quote from Paine’s The Crisis…….it is as true today as it was in the 18th century…….

“These are times that try men’s souls. The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of their country.”  and I would like to add….those that shrink from service become the most rabid patriots…….

Now that I have given a short history lesson, enjoy your fun, food and family…..and tomorrow begins it all again….

Why A Jeffersonian Democracy?

College of Political Knowledge

Subject:  Democracy/Government

With all the trouble and problems going on across North Africa, I have heard several media pundits calling and analyzing about the future of these countries and the possibility of a Jeffersonian Democracy…..most of them are conservs or right leaning Dems…..but what do they mean by “Jeffersonian Democracy”?

First of all, it is these pundits trying yet again to deify Jefferson and his ideals…….trying to link ALL democracy to the system set up by Jefferson…..secondly, that is total CRAP!

In its core ideals it is characterized by the following elements, which the Jeffersonians expressed in their speeches and legislation:

  • The core political value of America is representative democracy; citizens have a civic duty to aid the state and resist corruption
  • Americans had a duty to spread what Jefferson called the “Empire of Liberty” to the world, but should avoid “entangling alliances.”
  • The national government is a dangerous necessity to be instituted for the common benefit, protection, and security of the people, nation or community; it should be watched closely and circumscribed in its powers.
  • The wall of separation between church and state is the best method to keep religion free from intervention by the federal government, government free of religious disputes, and religion free from corruption by government.
  • The federal government must not violate the rights of individuals.
  • The federal government must not violate the rights of the states.
  • Freedom of speech and the press is the best method to prevent the tyranny of the people by their own government.
  • A standing army and navy are dangerous to liberty and should be avoided; much better was to use economic coercion such as the embargo.
  • The United States Constitution was written in order to ensure the freedom of the people. A strict view of how the constitution was written is kept. However, “no society can make a perpetual constitution or even a perpetual law. The earth belongs always to the living generation.”
  • All men had the right to be informed, and thus, to have a say in the government. The protection and expansion of human liberty was one of the chief goals of the Jeffersonians. They also reformed their respective state systems of education. They believed that their citizens had the right and should be educated no matter their circumstance or status in life.

Just a bit of what I guess we could call Jeffersonian democracy…….but is there more?

Yep, it has come to mean limited government and other such conserv ideals that they push for in every election….no matter the ideals Jefferson was a bit of a hypocrite…..the Louisiana Purchase expanded the role of government…..his Embargo Act of  1807 and the fact that he continued to hold slaves even when he constantly voiced opposition…..

I think that Jefferson’s own words tell where he was standing on the political philosophy of the day….”The natural aristocracy I consider as the most precious gift of nature… Every one, by his property, or by his satisfactory situation, is interested in the support of law and order. And such men may safely and advantageously reserve to themselves a wholesome control over their public affairs, and a degree of freedom, which, in the hands of the canaille of the cities of Europe, would be instantly perverted to the demolition and destruction of everything public and private.”  (Does not sound like a person that actually believes in limited government)……

I know that many will not agree with me….for I will NOT deify Jefferson….and I see his Republican movement as…… by contrast, were more concerned about the preservation of the relatively democratic distribution of the nation’s wealth.  While they had always advocated freeing oceanic commerce and providing foreign markets for the farmers, they believed that Federalists had rendered the United States subservient to Britain and had actually preferred a gradual reintroduction of hereditary rule.

To pretend that Jeffersonian democracy is some sort of perfect democracy is just plain wrong!  There is NO such thing as a perfect democracy…..if it were then there would NOT be a democracy……

So what part of Jeffersonian democracy does the Right keeping hoping for the Middle East….the expansionism?  How about the return to hereditary rule?  Just what does the Right want for the Middle East?  You can bet that it is NOT a participatory democracy!

2011 Anal-Ocity #8

I realize that a general election for president is rapidly approaching….and that many things will be said to foster ones public appeal…..and that misinformation should be the rule of the campaigns…on both sides….but there has to be a point where candidates stop mouthing diatribes and offer up a concrete plan with specifics….we have seen that generalities is NOT doing any good…….but then I am probably mistaken.

Mitt Romney, considered the front runner for the GOP nomination by many, has started with his positioning himself as the real anti-Obama candidate.  How did he do this?

Good question!

In his book, No Apology, the new edition, he makes an anal statement about the Dems and as most of my readers know….when something is said about what the Founders said….. I take offense….and Romney is NO different….

“They (liberals)  simply do not believe in America as it was shaped by the Founders,” he writes. “They do not believe that the principles and values that made America a great nation still apply.”

Here is a news flash!  The Repubs do NOT have a corner on knowing what the Founders were about, just as the Dems do NOT either……What makes the GOP ers think that they are more scholarly on the Founders than anyone else?  The worship of Jefferson does NOT make one an expert on the Founders……….

What does this sanctimonious $#%(*&^ mean by that?  Who knows?  If Romney does he does not do well at explaining his little slogan that he hopes will help propel him to front runner status….this is why I despise most politicians….they make wild accusations and then leave it there and do not explain why they say the lame ass crap they say…..

Mr. Romney….welcome to 2011 Anal-Ocity…….you have made it big as a purveyor of anal BS………

What Is In A Constitution?

College of Political Knowledge

Subject:  Government/Political Theory

Paper #39

My friend Quin,  over at Quintessential Havoc (go to blogroll and visit a thoughtful blog),  has been taunting (joking) me for sometime to define just what a Constitution is or what it really does for a given people.  It is not a really easy question to tackle and I shall give it my best effort……

First of all,  is a constitution a social contract or a political contract?

But first before we answer that question we need to look at what makes up a constitution…..

1–defines a way of life….values, principles, and definition of justice

2–defines the people…(this is open to interruptation)

3–defines the political institutions

4–establishes the basis of authority

5–distribution of political power

6–limits of government

There may be others that someone would add…but for the case of this post…these are the ones that I feel would make up a constitution….now we come to the question is it a social or a political contract?

Social contract……the simplest definition is…..the people give up sovereignty to a government or other authority in order to receive or maintain social order through the rule of law.  It can also be thought of as an agreement by the governed on a set of rules by which they are governed.

Of course we could delve into the definition a bit more but I feel that this pretty much sums up that the constitution…as defined…is a social contract as well as a political contract….

The forming of a constitution does not imply that the society is free and equitable….I mean Hobbes thought that an authoritarian monarchy was the way to go and Rousseau was all for a liberal republicanism…..even the now defunct USSR had a constitution……some have been more effective than others…..but no one constitution is for everyone…..but as much as some refuse to see that man is a herd animal and must give up some rights to be guaranteed others….and a constitution will define the limits of that contract with the population.

When considering a constitution as a political document it must be viewed in its entirety, not to pick and choose those parts that are most appealing…..for most constitutions are NOT an organic document, meaning that it is ever changing…it is the limits of the government and the people…….

Did I miss anything?

Let’s Change The Constitution

From the VOMITORIUM

The US Constitution, the Bill of Rights and the Declaration of Independence, you remember these documents, the foundations of the USA….it is perfect in its simplicity…at least that is what so many try to tell us….but the reality is the these documents are NOTHING but political tools to be used or discarded as the need arises.

Take  the amendments, for instance…..Conserv are all over leaving the 2nd amendment the way it is…because it is perfect and because it is a vote getter with gun nuts…..but that is amusing since not all the amendments are perfect in their eyes…..take the 17th amendment…..

The Senate of the United States shall be composed of two Senators from each State, elected by the people thereof, for six years; and each Senator shall have one vote. The electors in each State shall have the qualifications required for electors of the most numerous branch of the State legislatures.When vacancies happen in the representation of any State in the Senate, the executive authority of such State shall issue writs of election to fill such vacancies: Provided, That the legislature of any State may empower the executive thereof to make temporary appointments until the people fill the vacancies by election as the legislature may direct.

There are those in politics, especially the conservs, that would like to have the 17th repealed and that senators would be elected by state legislatures and not the people.  But why?

I have a problem whenever politicians try to take power from the people in any way…..and if this is ever to happen then the people will lose some of their dwindling power over politicians.

And now there seems to be a GOP push to repeal the 14th amendment…..politicians like Lindsey Graham, Mitch McConnell, the minority leader and calling for this repeal in an effort to help control illegal immigration….oh yea.. the 14th amendment says……

All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside. No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.

Their theory is that if we take away the rights of those born in the US of illegal parents then it will somehow help control the perception of massive illegal immigration.

As Lindsey Graham said:

“I may introduce a constitutional amendment that changes the rules if you have a child here,” Graham said during an interview with Fox News’ Greta Van Susteren. “Birthright citizenship I think is a mistake, that we should change our Constitution and say if you come here illegally and you have a child, that child’s automatically not a citizen.”

The 14th was added to the Constitution to protect the children born to now freed slaves…..so that they could NOT have any of the rights that were given to those denied to them.

Let us talk about illegal immigration talking points by Repubs……they bring with them crime….false…crime has actually gone down in the areas around the border……the illegals are bring in drugs….also false…this has never been proven by the border patrol…..in other words they are using FEAR (a useful tool for the GOP)  to try a set a tone on immigration that is just not there.  Make no mistake…corporations will do everything to halt any real substantial immigration reform…they like the status quo…..why?  illegals work for less money and they are used to make Americans settle for less money….they, the Corporations,  want Americans to compete for the lower paying jobs…this is why even a Repub like Bush could not get anything done while president.

My point is….sorry about the digression……that if they are serious about tinkering with the Constitution they could open a large can of worms….and they may not appreciate the direction it takes.



The “Constitutive Will” Of The People

Professor’s Classroom

Subject:  American History/Political Theory

Paper #9

There is lots of talk these on blogs and discussion forums about the American people being sheep…..it is not a Right/Left thing….both sides feel that Americans are incapable of making a valid decision on their own….that they need the media and politicians and the rest to make the decisions for them…are they, the American voter, lazy, ignorant or just stupid?  Another question…is it true?  Are the American people sheep?

Well……thinking…..YES they ARE sheep!  But when did it happen?  When did Americans give up their reason and free choice?  An excellent question…..and deserves an answer….

Back in the days of Grad school I took a course entitled, “American Political Thought” and that was a battle from the get go between myself and the professor….we did not agree on much and the debate pretty much took the whole class up….anyway…I digress….the course was about the political thought that went into the making of the USA….especially the Constitution….it covered the many players or should I call them Founders?  Now this brings us to the title……the course was where I was introduced to “constitutive will” of the people…..

“Constitutive Will” of the people…….to have the power to institute, establish or enact……which implies that the people of the Colonies wanted establish a representative democracy when the Constitution was being debated…..now this is where my problem begins…

You know during my research I could find NO papers that showed that the people of the Colonies were ever consulted or asked what they wanted from a new government…..so when I see historians say stuff like the founders were deliberating as a people with the end of producing a new constitution that would embody their “constitutive will”……I ask where and who consulted the people?

Let us stop writing b*llshit about our beginnings!  The Constitution was argued, debated and written by wealthy landowners and merchants….the people were not consulted…..their, the Founders, only concern was to protect the rights of the wealthy and to give the rest of the Colonists the illusion that if it somehow benefited the rich then the rest of the people were in good shape……in other words the Founders decided what was best for the rest of America and it has been that way ever sense…..

And that brings us to day…..our election process is just a continuation of the first batch of guys deciding what is best for the rest of us…..nothing about the process reflects what is truly the will of the people…..issues are decided on by the parties and then taken on the road and sold to the people as in their best interests.

The “Constitutive Will” of the people is a MYTH!  The people have NEVER been the focus of government!

“The Slavery Clause” (Black History Month)

Professor’s Classroom

Subject:  American History/Declaration of Independence/Black History

Come my children and you shall hear…

The BS that is fed to your ear……

Sorry, had to get a little poem in there….

We are in Black History Month and I would like to help everyone understand the work that went into dismantling the institution of slavery….and that not all that is being taught is the whole history of the lives and contributions of African-Americans……

During the first draft of the Declaration of Independence there was a clause, known as the anti-slavery clause, and when the first draft was presented to the membership, it was opposed by the Southern colonies, go figure and has been said it was deleted from the final draft to get the Southern colonies to approve of the DoI.

This is the wording of the slavery clause in the first draft of the DoI:

He [King George III] has waged cruel War against human Nature itself, violating its most Sacred Right of Life & Liberty in the Persons of a distant People who never offended him, captivating & carrying them into Slavery in another Hemisphere, or to incur miserable death in their Transportation thither. This piratical Warfare, the opprobrium of infidel Powers, is the Warfare of the Christian King of Great Britain. He has prostituted his Negative for Suppressing every legislative Attempt to prohibit or to restrain this execrable Commerce, determining to keep open a market where MEN should be bought & sold, and that this Assemblage of Horrors might want no Fact of distinguished Die, he is now exciting those very People to rise in Arms among us, and to purchase that Liberty of which he has deprived them, by murdering the people upon whom he also obtruded them; thus paying off former Crimes committed against the Liberties of one People, with Crimes which he urges them to commit against the lives of another.

Now the common belief and the history that is taught would have us believe that Jefferson wrote the first and final draft…..I am sorry but it would seem that if this idea was truly one of Jefferson’s he would have fought harder to keep it in the document….he did not!

It has been said and taught that Jefferson cursed the institution of slavery and that he did not like the fact that it existed…….historians would have us believe that he hated it so much that he freed his slaves later in life……..a slight exaggeration……he did free slaves…he had 22 and on his death bed freed 3….one of whom was a slave named Hemmings…..(wink wink)…that means that 19 we still slaves when Jefferson died…does not sound like someone who hated the institution…..Many of the founding fathers are said to have hated slavery, while still keeping slaves to do their bidding.

But I have a hard time believing that these guys were all that anti-slavery when comments like these were said:

“I have supposed the black man in his present state might not be [equal to the white man]; but it would be hazardous to affirm that equally cultivated for a few generations, he would not become so.” –Thomas Jefferson to Chastellux, 1785.

“Nothing is more certainly written in the book of fate than that these people [blacks] are to be free. Nor is it less certain that the two races, equally free, cannot live in the same government. Nature, habit, opinion has drawn indelible lines of distinction between them.” –Thomas Jefferson:

“The improvement of the blacks in body and mind, in the first instance of their mixture with the whites, has been observed by every one, and proves that their inferiority is not the effect merely of their condition of life.” Thomas Jefferson: Notes on Virginia

Sorry people but it does not sound like Jefferson believes that ALL MEN are created equal….to me……

If Jefferson did not write the slavery clause then who?

The first person that comes to mind is the forgotten father of independence…Thomas Paine…….I know no one is being taught this information….so ask why…..

Paine arrived in the colonies on November of 1774 and by early 1775 had written and published, African Slavery In America” which was a harsh condemnation of the institution.  And shortly after that the first anti-slavery association was established in Philadelphia.  If anyone can say that they either wrote or influenced the slavery clause of the DoI it would be Paine.

Thomas Paine can accurately be called the Father of the Abolitionist Movement in America….of all the founding fathers he alone can say that he was opposed to slavery from his first sight of it in America and that he was the FIRST to openly condemn enslavement of a people.

Paine deserves better than the treatment history has given him…he deserves the acknowledgment that he was truly an American patriot and a Founding Father…..to deny him in dissertation of American history is to deny the principles and and beliefs that make this a great country.  Academia has done all in its power to eliminate or marginalize Paine and his contributions to the cause of independence….and so far they have been successful and Americans are the worse for not knowing his story.